ICANN Resolutions » President and CEO Review of New gTLD Community Priority Evaluation Report Procedures

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President and CEO Review of New gTLD Community Priority Evaluation Report Procedures

Whereas, the Board has discussed various aspects of the Community Priority Evaluation (CPE) process, including some issues that were identified in the Final Declaration from the Independent Review Process (IRP) proceeding initiated by Dot Registry LLC.

Whereas, the Board would like to have some additional information related to how ICANN staff members interact with the CPE provider, and in particular with respect to the CPE provider's CPE reports.

Resolved (2016.09.17.01), the Board hereby directs the President and CEO, or his designee(s), to undertake an independent review of the process by which ICANN staff interacted with the CPE provider, both generally and specifically with respect to the CPE reports issued by the CPE Provider.

Rationale for Resolution:

Community Priority Evaluation (CPE) is a method to resolve string contention for New gTLD applications. It occurs if a community application is both in contention and elects to pursue CPE. The evaluation is an independent analysis conducted by a panel from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). As part of its process, the CPE provider reviews and scores a community applicant that has elected CPE against the following four criteria: Community Establishment; Nexus between Proposed String and Community; Registration Policies, and Community Endorsement. An application must score at least 14 points to prevail in a community priority evaluation.

At various points in the implementation of the New gTLD Program, the Board (and the Board New gTLD Program Committee) have discussed various aspects of CPE. Recently, the Board has discussed some issues with the CPE process, including certain issues that were identified in the Final Declaration from the Independent Review Process (IRP) proceeding initiated by Dot Registry LLC. The Board is taking action at this time to direct the President and CEO, or his designee(s), to undertake a review of the process by which ICANN staff interacts with the CPE provider in issuing its CPE reports.

The review should include an overall evaluation of staff's interaction with the CPE provider, as well as any interaction staff may have with respect to the CPE provider preparing its CPE reports. The Board's action to initiate this review is intended to have a positive impact on the community as it will help to provide greater transparency into the CPE evaluation process. Additionally, by undertaking additional due diligence in the administration of the CPE process, the Board intends this review to help gather additional facts and information that may be helpful in addressing uncertainty about staff interaction with the CPE provider.

As part of its deliberations, the Board reviewed various materials, including, but not limited to, the following materials and documents:

There may be some minor fiscal impact depending on the method of review that the President and CEO chooses to undertake, but none that would be outside of the current budget for administering the New gTLD Program.

Initiating a review of the process by which ICANN staff interacts with the CPE provider is not anticipated to have any impact on the security, stability or resiliency of the DNS.

This is an Organizational Administrative Function that does not require public comment.